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TOKYO –– Finnish author Tove Jansson’s Moomins of Moominvalley are an unusual childlike bunch, but they hold a fascinating charm.

Management at FinTech Global Incorporated, a boutique investment bank in Tokyo, has recognised Moomin’s unique appeal, and is busy laying the groundwork for Metsä, an ambitious development on a 46-acre woodland site north of Tokyo at Lake Miyazawa. Metsä, meaning “forest” in Finnish, will have both Finnish-style boutiques and restaurants. It will also be the site of Moomin Valley Park, only the second Moomin theme park in the world, after Moomin World in Naantali, Finland. Read the rest of this entry →

By 2055, an estimated two out of every five Japanese will be aged 65 or older. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talks of wanting to reverse the trend of the ageing society and improving conditions for young adults. Yet the government remains lukewarm to the needs of high school and college graduates who would like to go out on their own but finding they are unable to do so. Read the rest of this entry →

TOKYO — Yuki Wachi and her husband cannot speak English, but they send their five-year-old daughter Tamami to a preschool where English is the primary language of instruction. Once Tamami finishes kindergarten and enters the Japanese public school system, Wachi and her husband will commit an additional ¥100,000 per month to after school English lessons for their daughter. Read the rest of this entry →